Bionic

What Bionic does

Bionic is a privately held landscape architecture, urban design, and planning firm headquartered in San Francisco, California, founded in 2007 by Marcel Wilson. The firm operates with a small team of 1-10 employees delivering professional design services across California and select national locations, with a portfolio spanning campuses, plazas, parks, waterfronts, housing, habitat restoration, infrastructure, mixed-use developments, and public art installations. Notable engagements include the 50+ acre Google Moffett Place campus, 27-acre India Basin Waterfront Park in San Francisco, the 10-acre Torrey View life science campus built over structure in San Diego, and the 3-mile Santa Barbara Waterfront 30-Year Adaptation Plan. The firm has established itself through marquee commissions for major technology companies (Google, LinkedIn, Adobe, Nvidia, Genentech, Zeiss), premier real estate developers (BioMed Realty, Brookfield, Alexandria Real Estate, Tishman Speyer, Breakthrough Properties), and government and nonprofit clients (City of Santa Barbara, Port of San Francisco, California Coastal Conservancy, Fort Mason Center, Trust for Public Land).

Bionic differentiates through an inventive design approach that integrates biological and technological systems, with stated expertise in rooftop horticulture, ecological wetland design, digital water curtain systems, stormwater treatment, and advanced computation as a design tool. The firm was founded on the principle of "enabling life in a complex world" by negotiating relationships between living systems and constructed environments. Revenue is generated through project-based professional services fees including master planning, design guidelines, entitlements, and construction administration. Projects are acquired through direct client engagement and design competitions, with the firm collaborating regularly with tier-one architecture practices such as Bjarke Ingels Group, West8, SOM, Gensler, Perkins & Will, and Stantec.

The firm is founder-owned and independently operated, with no external institutional investment, parent company, or M&A activity disclosed. Leadership is anchored by Founding Principal and Design Director Marcel Wilson (25+ years of experience), Principal Peter Frankel (licensed landscape architect, UC Berkeley), and Principal Sarah Moos Thompson (14+ years at the firm, expertise in entitlements and resilience planning). Recognition includes a 2026 Architizer A+ Awards Special Mention, 2025 Market Street Reimagined Competition win, multiple 2025 ASLA-NCC Design Awards, and a 2012 Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian National Design Award nomination. Pricing is project-specific and not publicly disclosed.

Name

Bionic

Legal name

Bionic

Website

https://bioniclandscape.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2007

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Bionic is a San Francisco-based landscape architecture, urban design, and planning firm founded in 2007, serving major technology companies (Google, LinkedIn, Adobe, Nvidia), real estate developers (BioMed Realty, Brookfield), and public agencies through premium design services across California.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Landscape Architecture Services

NAICS

Landscape Architectural Services (541320), Environmental Consulting Services (541620)

akta.pro primary industry

Commercial Landscape Design & Installation (HSAIABAJ)

akta.pro secondary industry

Residential Landscape Design (HSAIABAA)

Keywords

• Landscape architecture services
• Urban design planning
• Master planning design
• Campus landscape design
• Public realm design

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Landscape Architecture Services: Core professional services including landscape architecture, urban design, and planning for projects spanning campuses, plazas, parks, waterfronts, housing, habitat restoration, infrastructure, mixed-use developments, and public spaces. Revenue is generated through design fees, master planning, design guidelines, entitlements, and construction administration services.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Bionic is a landscape architecture, urban design, and planning firm that designs campuses, plazas, parks, waterfronts, mixed-use developments, and infrastructure for technology companies, real estate developers, public agencies, and institutions. The firm provides professional design services including master planning, design guidelines, entitlements support, and construction administration from concept through completion. Bionic also offers visualization and digital media services, community engagement, and specialized expertise in rooftop horticulture, ecological wetland design, and stormwater treatment systems.

Product overview

Bionic is a landscape architecture and urban design firm offering professional design services rather than a software product. The company provides core landscape architecture services, urban design and planning, community engagement, and visualization services. Their project portfolio spans parks and public spaces, campus and workplace landscapes, infrastructure and resilience projects, arts and culture installations, and residential gardens. Projects include signature works such as Redwood Square, India Basin Waterfront Park, Adobe Founders Tower, LinkedIn campuses, and the Santa Barbara Waterfront adaptation. The firm collaborates with architecture firms, artists, engineers, and other specialists to deliver projects across California and select national locations.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Landscape Architecture Core professional service designing campuses, plazas, parks, waterfronts, gardens, and public spaces for corporate, institutional, and public-sector clients; covers concept through construction administration.

Quantifiable outcome

• 50+ acre campus completed (Google Moffett Place)
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers20 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered major, core, notable and minor.

• Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational architecture firm collaborating on joint design projects including Fountain Alley in San Jose where landscape design was jointly conceptualized with Bionic leading landscape design development.
• West8majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational landscape architecture and urban design firm. Won international design competition with Bionic for Fort Mason Center master plan and implementation strategy for public realm.
• StantecmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLeading sustainability consulting and engineering firm. Collaborating on 3-mile Santa Barbara Waterfront 30-Year Waterfront Adaptation Plan.
• GenslercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGlobal architecture and design firm listed as collaborator on projects.
• SOM (Skidmore, Owings & Merrill)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLeading architecture and urban planning firm listed as collaborator on projects.
• Perkins & WillcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGlobal architecture and design firm listed as collaborator on projects.
• Ned KahnnotableStrategic or Co-development PartnerArtist collaborating on public art installations. Created kinetic sculpture 'Depth of Field' at Zeiss Innovation Center.
• Gehl StudionotableStrategic or Co-development PartnerUrban design firm focused on human-centered design listed as collaborator.
• Office 52notableStrategic or Co-development PartnerPortland-based architecture firm on Place Matters Competition team with Bionic.
• RSM DesignminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPlacemaking experts on Place Matters Competition team.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves2 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Andrea Cochran Landscape Architecture: Andrea Cochran Landscape Architecture is a Bay Area-based landscape architecture studio recognized for award-winning residential, institutional, and public-space work. Closest geography-and-scale comparable to Bionic with overlapping Bay Area tech and cultural-campuses client base.
• SWA Group: SWA Group is a landscape architecture, urban design, and planning firm with deep Bay Area and California tech-campus experience (including work for Google, Salesforce, and major developers). It is the most direct peer to Bionic in terms of practice area, geography, and client overlap, but operates at materially larger scale.
• SCAPE: SCAPE is a landscape architecture and urban design firm focused on waterfront resilience, climate adaptation, and public realm — directly comparable to Bionic's India Basin and Santa Barbara waterfront work. Similar scale and competition-circuit positioning, with a stronger east-coast orientation.
• OLIN: OLIN is a landscape architecture, urban design, and planning firm with a strong roster of institutional and corporate clients, including major tech and cultural-campus work. Direct comparable on practice mix, client type, and east-coast/west-coast reach with similar scale to Bionic.
• James Corner Field Operations: Field Operations is a high-profile landscape architecture and urban design firm known for the High Line and major waterfront/public-realm projects. It directly overlaps with Bionic's waterfront, public realm, and campus work and competes in the same design-competition circuit (e.g., market-shaping civic projects).
• West8: West8 is a Dutch landscape architecture and urban design firm that partnered with Bionic to win the Fort Mason Center master plan competition. Directly comparable in practice focus, design-competition pedigree, and signature public-realm/waterfront portfolio.

Broad incumbents

• Sasaki: Sasaki is an integrated design firm with a sizable landscape architecture, urban planning, and landscape-ecology practice working on campuses, waterfronts, and large master plans. Broader, multi-disciplinary incumbent that competes with Bionic on campus and waterfront pursuits, but at larger scale and broader service mix.
• Gensler: Gensler is the largest global architecture and design firm with extensive workplace, campus, and urban-design practices, including landscape architecture. A Bionic collaborator and the dominant competitor for integrated tech-campus and workplace-landscape work where Bionic often plays sub-consultant.
• Stantec: Stantec is a global engineering, architecture, and environmental services firm with a significant landscape architecture practice and is a listed Bionic collaborator on the Santa Barbara Waterfront plan. Competes as a broad incumbent on integrated campus, waterfront, and infrastructure-resilience bids where Bionic often serves as sub-consultant.

Others

• Michael Maltzan Architecture: Michael Maltzan Architecture is a listed Bionic collaborator and a Los Angeles-based architecture firm working on signature civic, housing, and bridge projects (e.g., Sixth Street Viaduct). Architectural-side peer/collaborator whose projects often pull Bionic in as landscape architect of record.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights4 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/bioniclandscape
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/bionic_2

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Bionic